Staple-wire



J. B. HADAWAY.

STAPLE WIRE APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18, 1918.

1,857,319, Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

//V Vf/V 727/5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. I-IADAWAY, OF SWAMPSCOT'I, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN'OR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORTORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STAPLE-WIRE.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Application filed January 18, 1918. Serial No. 212,501.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. HADAWAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain' Improvements in Staple-Wire, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.-

This invention relates to a wire for staples and particularly to a wire having a portion of a staple formed therein and adapted to be fed to a staple forming and setting machine.

In attaching shoe buttons, it has been proposed to use a previously formed staple comprising a button retaining loop which has its button-eye retaining bar elongated and disposed substantially horizontally above the work, and connections with the horizontal portion of the head of the staple which, as shown, extend at right angles to the button-eye retaining bar. In consequence, the button retaining loop of this form of staple is substantially rectangular. Such a staple is disclosed in the application of Frank L. Harmon, Serial No. 834,914, filed April 28, 1914, now Patent 1,262,782, granted April 16, 1918.

An advantage of the elongated button retaining loop is that it provides for adjustment of the position of the button relative to the work so that it may center itself within the buttonhole and thus avoid the difiiculty resulting when an attaching staple is improperly positioned relative to the buttonhole.

Another advantage of this form of staple results from the fact that the parts of the head of the staple between the legs and the loop lie fiat upon the stock so that these connecting shoulders are pressed firmly against the work when the staple is clenched therein and prevent the button-eye from becoming wedged between the head of the staple and the work and thereby loosening the staple.

Despite the above mentioned and other important advantages of this type of button attaching sta 1e, it has not heretofore been foundwell a apted for use in a continuous wire attaching machine where the staple is formed by a driver just prior to being in serted. One reason for this difliculty is that the button retaining loop of a staple of this type is not readily formed by the instrumentalities found in such a machine and requires considerable pressure upon the forming dies.

The present invention provides a continuous staple wire shaped to present partly formed button attaching staples of the type above mentioned to facilitate the operation of the staple inserting machine.

A feature of the invention consists in the provision of an article of manufacture comprising a staple wire with button retaining oops formed at intervals along the length of the wire and having one or both sides extending at right angles thereto. This form of loop enables the use of wire feeding mechanism constructed and arranged to engage the side of the loop and positively to feed the wire for a predetermined distance.

Another feature of the invention consists in the provision of a staple wire having butt0n-eye retaining loops formed at regular intervals therein which have substantially elongated button retaining bars to allow adjustment of the position of a button retained therein.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows the wire from which the novel article is to be formed;

Fig. 2 shows the novel article of manufacture;

Fig. 3 shows a piece severed from the wire out of which a staple is to be formed;

Fig. 4 shows such a staple with its legs bent into parallel relation; and

Fig. 5 shows the same inserted in the work and clenched in position to retain a button.

The wire 10 from which my novel article of manufacture is to be made, will first be formed by means of dies, or the like, to have a series of eye retaining loops 12 and connecting portions 14. As shown, these loops 12 are constructed in rectangular form with a top button-eye retaining bar 16 extending in the general direction of the connecting portions 14: and connected to said portions by means of sides 18, which join the bar 16 and portions 14 at right angles.

A wire in this form may be supplied to staple setting and button fastening machines where it will be threaded through the eye of a button and cut ofi, as shown in Fig. 3.

In the usual operation of such a button fastening machine, the legs'20 of the staple will then be bent into parallel relation, as

shown in Fig. 4, so that these legs are not single connecting portion 14 of the wire, which is substantially equal to their combined length. The staple, after having been formed, will then be driven through the work 24 to secure a button 26 thereto, and will beclenched in some such manner as is illustrated in Fig. 5. From this it will be seen that the particular form of button retaining loop with which the wire has been provided constitutes a decided advantage in that it allows the free movement of the shank or eye 28 of the button with regard to the work, and, therefore, allows the position of the button to be adjusted so that it will correspond exactly with that of the buttonhole. Furthermore, the shoulders 22 of the staple bear tightly against the upper surface of the work and prevent the eye 28 from being pulled into a position between said shoulders and the work.

In threading the wire constituting my novel article of manufacture through the eyes of buttons in the staple inserting machine, the loops 12, and especially their angularly related sides 18, may be advantageously used in effecting the positive feeding of the work for a predetermined distance, thus insuring the even length of the legs of the staples and avoiding the danger of slippage, which exists with the ordinary gripping and feeding devices normally emplifi ed in such machines;

aving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a staple wire provided with button-eye retaining loops formed at regular intervals therein, each retaining loop having a side portion extending substantially at right angles; to the length of the portions of the wire which are disposed between the successive loops and thus being arranged for feedlng engagement of the wire.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a wire with eye retaining loops formed at regular intervals therein, said loops being three-sided with an elongated portionextending in the general direction of the portions of the wire interposed between successive loops, along which elongated portion the engaged eye may move freely, and the connectingsides of the loop extending substantially at right angles to the main wire, and thus being arranged for positive feeding engagement.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to vthis specification.

JOHN B. HADAWAY. 

